The Claimed (8 page)

Her mother paused and looked toward her husband, as if wanting to make sure he was in agreement. After a reluctant nod of his head, her mother continued.

“Your father and I have thought long and hard since this morning. It was not an easy decision to reach. But time is growing short so we’ve agreed that if you should find another Hunter or Hybrid with whom to bond…”

Victoria jumped in to repeat it just to make sure she had heard right. “Are you saying that I’m free to choose a mate? Even one whose gathering gift is not as strong as a Quinchu’s?”

Her mother and father glanced at each other, as if they, too, needed affirmation of the decision they had made. It
was diametrically opposed to what they had been preaching since the day Victoria had become old enough to be mated in accordance with Hunter traditions. Then her parents both nodded at each other before facing Victoria once more.

“Yes,” they replied in unison, although it was halfhearted in tone.

Victoria suspected that they hoped to find another Quinchu mate from a different clan before she found her own partner. The truth of it was, her parents might just find someone faster, because you didn’t just fall in love with the first person you met. Love was definitely a prerequisite for bonding in Victoria’s book.

“Thank you,” she said, acknowledging what it had likely cost them to deviate from their lifelong plan for her, even if only for the moment.

“We should go,” her father said, shooting an anxious glance at Rafael as he stood by the sofa, hands held before him, feet braced slightly apart. Always ready to serve, Victoria thought, or had that been a conspiratorial look her father had shot her cadre captain?

At the door, she bid her parents good-bye, but Rafael remained behind. As her gaze glanced across his, she noted something unexpected.

Yearning? For her? Or was it just concern about her earlier actions in going out on the water without his protection?

“You don’t really need to hang out. I’m fine here by myself,” she said, not sure of how to deal with him at the moment.

“I know that you think you can take care of yourself.”

The tone in his voice was unmistakable this time. “You’re angry that I went out alone.”

“I’m supposed to protect you and I try—”

“But I don’t make it easy,” she acknowledged. Although Rafael could cast a wide net to keep an eye on her thanks to his affinity with the wind, he couldn’t be everywhere, nor did she want him to be.

“You don’t,” he confirmed.

Victoria didn’t care for his tone or another air she was sensing in him—a territorial one, as if he suddenly planned on staking a claim to her. Maybe that was the reason for the look her father and Rafael had shared just moments earlier.

“I don’t need you to be my keeper.”

“I don’t want to be your keeper. I want to be more, and while I may not be the most powerful Hunter in our clan—”

“I’m not interested in you as a mate, Rafael. You’re a friend and my captain,” she said with command as well as compassion. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt his feelings.

His full lips thinned into a sharp slash and the words that followed cut deep. “You think I’m not good enough because I’m damaged.”

“I’ve never thought of you as damaged, Rafael.” She laid her hand on his shoulder, imparting a comforting touch and brush of healing power.

His frustration abated and bright color worked up over his cheeks, but then he raised his face and said, “I’m glad to hear that, Victoria. Maybe in time you’ll change your mind.”

She shouldn’t have missed the signals. Sammie and Jan had certainly seen what she’d been blind to, not that she had listened to their admonitions.

“How about a training session? It’ll help chase away the chill from the water,” she said in an attempt to move away from the awkward discussion.

“As you wish,” he said with a restrained incline of his head and muted emotions. He was back to being her cadre captain, and she hoped that in time he would turn his attentions from her to some other eligible woman in their Light Hunter clan. Or maybe even her friend Samantha, who seemed to possess such intense vitality.

“Why don’t you go to the shop? I’ll be down as soon as I change.” Without waiting for his reply, she raced up the stairs to her bedroom where she quickly slipped into comfortable sweats and sneakers.

Bounding down the two flights of stairs, she met Rafael in her shop. There was a large open space in the middle where they normally prepped their customers for the parasail or kayak rides. It was a perfect spot where she and Rafael regularly trained to hone not only their martial arts skills, but their control over their energy.

When Rafael noticed her arrival, he adopted a loose fighting stance dead center of the space, his knees bent and flexible. Hands raised like a boxer’s, with his palms exposed and showing the first hints of glowing orbs of energy, he was ready to either defend or attack. His face was blank, devoid of any emotion as it should be.

Never show fear or confidence to an enemy. Both could get you killed.

Victoria mimicked his stance, well-trained in martial arts as well as the unique powers her people possessed.

As Rafael jabbed at her, she ducked his first blow. A second jab came quickly and she blocked it, but experienced the jolt of his Hunter power as the energy orb
skimmed along her forearm. It stung at the place where skin met skin and sent a tingle along the nerve endings before numbness set in.

Although she was surprised Rafael was escalating their training so quickly with the use of Hunter power, she welcomed the engagement. Not only would it help keep her skills sharp, it would work off some of the worry from the day’s events.

She ducked and parried Rafael’s punches and kicks, but as she did so she thought of the young man’s injuries and wondered if had survived. She also recalled the surge of healing power that had come from Christopher. It still bothered her since she had no clue if he presented a possible threat.

Slightly distracted with those thoughts, she barely ducked Rafael’s roundhouse kick. It grazed along her back, providing another punishing flare of power. In automatic response, she whirled and shot out her arms, sending a blast of electrical power that caught Rafael mid-chest and dropped him to his knees from the force of the hit.

“Shit, I’m sorry.” She rushed to his side and slipped her arm around him to offer support.

“I’m okay,” he said, but she could detect the waver in his energy field created by her jolt. Luckily she had tempered the shot. A full-strength discharge could have literally fried all the connections of his Hunter vessel, killing him.

In response to the imbalance in his aura, she released a bit of her power to replace the networks that her charge had short-circuited.

He drew in a shocked breath and murmured, “That’s not necessary.”

“I’m your Quinchu. It’s what I do for our people,” she replied, reminding him of her role. As his Quinchu she was destined to maintain his life force and that of the other clan members who could not hunt energy.

The loud ring of the business line interrupted the moment. It was late for a call, but she didn’t want to miss any potential customers given the current state of the economy. She and several of her cadre members relied on the income from the shop to support them.

“Are you okay?” she asked him, loath to leave if he still needed her care.

“I’m fine,” he said and as if to prove it, rose to his feet and offered up an easygoing smile.

She returned his grin and walked to the phone. She snagged it and breathlessly answered in a sing-song, “It’s a Shore Thing Surf and Sail.”

“Is this Victoria?” a man said, and she recognized his voice immediately. It awakened heat within her core with its opulent tone.

“Christopher. I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon,” she said, and then nearly bit off her tongue at her stupidity.

A very masculine chuckle in his deep baritone came across the line before he said, “I’m glad that you expected I would call. That at least gives me hope that you might want to see me again.”

Heat flooded her cheeks and somehow she curbed her embarrassment. Never good with feminine guile, she admitted, “It would certainly be nice to meet you under less trying circumstances.”

Maybe in a calmer environment she could secure an explanation for the energy she had perceived and relieve
some of her anxiety about what he was. If he wasn’t a foe…

Well, that would certainly allow her to explore her physical attraction to him.

“Would it make it less trying for you to know that the Jet Skier made it? I called the hospital and they said he was in critical, but stable condition.”

Victoria sighed with relief at the news. “That
is
nice to know.”

“It might be even nicer to celebrate. It’s not every day that you save a man’s life.” The tenor of his voice was carefree and infused lightness to her heart. In her Hunter world, she dealt with death more often than she cared to. If she could eliminate him as a threat, it would be a pleasant change to be around someone with whom that wasn’t the case.

“So what did you have in mind?” she asked, excited about the prospect.

Christopher named a local seafood restaurant. “Dinner tomorrow? Around seven?”

Monday afternoons were generally slower at the shop so that was perfect. It would give her time to get ready for the date.

A real date with a man she had chosen, she thought, smiling, although she took a moment to rein in that excitement and remind herself that she needed to learn more about his power before it went any further.

“I’d like that,” she said more guardedly, and after agreeing that he would pick her up at the shop, she hung up.

When she turned, she realized that Rafael was standing by the door. Like the storm winds that were part of
his particular affinity, his gaze was shadowed and his features clouded with either anger or concern. His emotions had weakened his control, and his aura visibly shimmered with quivering tendrils of the dark silvers and grays of a tempest over the ocean.

“Is that wise? Dating a human?” he asked, laying his hand on the jamb of the door as if to ground himself.

A human with a hint of power that could be useful, she wanted to defend, but she sensed that would only create additional unrest within Rafael. “It’s just dinner. Nothing to be worried about.”

She walked back to her captain and laid her hand on his arm in a calming gesture. Beneath her palm she sensed the volatility of his energy and for the first time ever, felt uneasy with him.

But as soon as that sensation came, a shudder worked over his body and like a dog shaking off water, Rafael drove away his irritation. “I’m sorry, Victoria. I have no right to question you.”

Because she didn’t want resentment between them, she cradled his jaw in an attempt to calm his unrest. “You’re my captain, but more importantly, my friend, Rafael. I will always appreciate your concern and counsel.”

With the warmth of her touch and caring, any tension between them seemed to evaporate like the morning fog beneath the sun’s rays.

“Let’s finish our workout,” she said, and together they returned to the center of the room where they resumed their training, mixing up traditional martial arts with occasional uses of their Hunter power.

After about half an hour, Rafael excused himself. Despite an awkward moment by her door when they
both stood there unsure of what to do, Victoria believed things with her captain were at least smoothed over for the moment.

He had been a friend and protector for too long to have him upset.

After she closed the door and returned to her living space, she thought about the call from Christopher and her upcoming date. Kind of like a human date and yet not completely. She’d be foolish to ignore the power he possessed, especially since the Shadows had been in the area lately.

For centuries the Dark Ones had sought out the Light Hunters, coveting the purer energy Light Hunters possessed. It was more effective in driving away the pox that returned time and time again to damage their physical bodies.

There was no doubt someone was after Adam, possibly because of the intense potential in his life force. Draining him could possibly keep a Shadow illness-free for some time, but his clan also needed that store of energy for their Light Hunter members who could not hunt because of the way the pox had damaged their systems.

So much ruin for her people from their contact with the humans and their illness.

But Victoria also suspected the humans, especially Hybrids like Bobbie, held the key to the future and if Christopher was a Hybrid…

She might just find a way to choose her own mate after all.

R
afael stood below the edge of the veranda, vigilant as Victoria and her date were seated at a table overlooking the avenue and the beach across the way. Thread-thin control somehow contained the resentment and concern snaking through him.

Victoria had been less than honest the night before. This man was not a human date. The faint outline of power surrounding her companion had been visible from the moment Rafael had first laid eyes on him. Even though the aura was barely discernible, hinting that her date might be a Hybrid, Rafael would not be satisfied about Victoria’s safety until he somehow ruled out the possibility that the man was a Shadow. Many of them had also learned how to conceal the murky auras that identified their putrid existence.